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Pruning or tuning? Maturational profiles of face specialization during typical development
Xun Zhu1, Ramesh S Bhatt2, Jane E Joseph3
1Department of Psychology Shihezi University Xinjiang China; Department of Neurosciences Medical University of South Carolina Charleston South Carolina 29425.
Brain and Behavior
|June 18, 2016
Summary
Brain regions develop specialized face processing with age through two mechanisms: continued tuning to faces or pruning of non-face responses. This developmental maturation is region-specific, impacting social cognition and basic perception areas differently.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Face processing abilities change significantly with age.
- Two developmental changes in face specialization are specialized maturation and competitive interactions.
- Specialized maturation involves continued tuning to faces with little change to other categories.
- Competitive interactions involve tuning to faces alongside pruning of non-face responses.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine developmental changes in face specialization in children and adults.
- To differentiate between specialized maturation and competitive interactions in cortical regions.
- To understand the regional specificity of face processing maturation.
Main Methods:
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to study brain activity.
- Face and object specialization indices were computed in regions showing adult face preference.
- Participants included younger children (5-8 years), older children (9-12 years), and adults (18-45 years).
- Specialization indices were scaled to control for individual differences in activation magnitude.
Main Results:
- No regions showed significant face specialization in younger children.
- Social cognition regions (e.g., superior temporal sulcus) exhibited specialized maturation: increased face tuning without non-face pruning.
- Perceptual/motor regions (e.g., middle temporal cortex) showed competitive interactions: increased face tuning with object response pruning.
Conclusions:
- Cortical maturation of face processing is region-specific.
- Development involves both increased face tuning and decreased non-face responses.
- Competitive interaction regions may support generalized functions co-opted for face processing.
- Specialized maturation regions enhance face tuning, likely through experience-driven processes.
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